Nissan-Ashok Leyland may launch NV200 MPV at Expo

Japanese manufacturer Nissan’s Sunny sedan and Micra hatchback are doing good numbers in the market. However, these are hardly ever considered worth buying by fleet operators and the likes. Lately, there has been enough info pouring in that Nissan is busy working with Indian commercial vehicle maker Ashok Leyland, to introduce the NV200 MPV to the Indian market.

Good folks at OnCars have reported that a joint venture between Nissan and Ashok Leyland is working on unveiling this MPV at the upcoming Auto Expo. The upcoming MPV will battle it out with the best selling Toyota Innova, the very popular Mahindra Xylo and the Tata Grande. The NV200 MPV is a 7 seater and is expected to be powered by the 1.5 Litre DCi engine. No prizes to those who guessed the engine to be same as that in the Nissan Micra hatchback and Sunny diesel sedan. However, NV200’s engine will be in a more powerful state of tune, similar to the Sunny’s motor, with 85 Bhp of peak power and 200 Nm of pulling power. A highly competitive pricing could be the key to success and it may be noted that once launched, the MPV will have to survive among formidable rivals, read: the facelifted Innova and the upcoming Maruti Ertiga MPV.It is worth noting that the NV200 MPV has been recently chosen for the New York taxi fleet from 2013 and it will be replacing the aging Crown Victoria taxis.